Read the passage and answer the question:
The revenue was not realised with punctuality, and lands to a considerable extent were periodically exposed to sale by auction. In the native year 1203 corresponding with 1796-97, the land advertised for sale comprehended a jumma or assessment of sicca rupees 28,70,061, the extent of land actually sold bore a jumma or assessment of 14,18,756, and the amount of purchase money sicca rupees 17,90,416. In 1204, corresponding with 1797-98, the land advertised was for sicca rupees 26,66,191, the quantity sold was for sicca rupees 22,74,076, and the purchase money sicca rupees 21,47,580. Among the defaulters were some of the oldest families of the country. Such were the rajahs of Nuddea, Rajeshaye, Bishenpore, (all districts of Bengal), .... and others, the dismemberment of whose estates at the end of each succeeding year, threatened them with poverty and ruin, and in some instances presented difficulties to the revenue officers, in their efforts to preserve undiminished the amount of public assessment.
The zamindars defaulted in payments because:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → The initial demands from the zamindars were very high.
The passage shows zamindari lands being sold by auction year after year because the revenue was not paid on time.
Option (1) They hoarded the collected revenue. — Incorrect. The zamindars were not holding back money they had collected. Often they could not collect the rent at all, because the ryots could not pay in a time of depressed prices.
Option (2) The initial demands from the zamindars were very high. — Correct. This was the first reason for the failure. Since the demand was fixed for all time to come, the Company feared it would never get a share of the increased income from land when prices rose and cultivation expanded. To minimise this loss, it pegged the revenue demand high. The other reasons were that this demand came in the 1790s, when prices of agricultural produce were depressed, and that the revenue had to be paid punctually, whatever the harvest, under the Sunset Law.
Option (3) Jotedars were given more authority by the East India Company. — Incorrect. The jotedars were rich peasants who grew powerful in the villages on their own, by controlling land, trade and money-lending. The Company did not hand them authority, and their rise is not one of the reasons for the zamindars’ failure to pay.
Option (4) Share croppers revolted against the zamindars. — Incorrect. Sharecroppers worked the jotedars’ lands and handed over half the produce; no revolt by them is among the reasons for the defaults.
NCERT (2026-27): “1.3 Why zamindars defaulted on payments … In the early decades after the Permanent Settlement, however, zamindars regularly failed to pay the revenue demand and unpaid balances accumulated. The reasons for this failure were various. First: the initial demands were very high. This was because it was felt that if the demand was fixed for all time to come, the Company would never be able to claim a share of increased income from land when prices rose and cultivation expanded.…” |